Originally Posted by
noFODplease
String instruments are definitely considered to be amongst the most sensitive and personalised - with players having preference over things like the resin used, the type of bow-hair, the brand of strings, how long they need to be played in before they are ready for a concert etc.
Pianos are relatively robust and highly engineered to mechanical perfection - much more standardised at the top end.
String players are very, very protective of their instruments - she must have been horrified. I'm an orchestral conductor and during my last performance at a large music festival in the UK, there was a dedicated storage container and security man for the string orchestra to store their instruments. They were still nervous when out and about between performances!
A long time ago, when I played double bass, we tried hiring basses locally but sometimes we got terrible instruments. I remember some experiences in Malaysia and China. The best one I ever got was from a player in the Vancouver Symphony.
Now I am mostly a pianist and I can make do on almost any instrument, even occasionally on electronic ones! String instruments are different creatures I'm afraid. It's interesting to note that good string instruments typically accrue in value whereas pianos just become more knackered and valueless with time.
When I'm conducting, easy enough to put the baton in its long case and off I go, you'd think. But I occasionally I run into problems at security with it. And once, security at Frankfurt found my tuning fork (useful if you're rehearsing a choir).
In this case, the subject of the thread, I am glad the instrument turned up. I guess she won't let herself get separated from it again!